St. John 8:31:35

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.

The writer of our text, St. John, starts out talking about the Jews who’ve believed Jesus. He’s distinguishing them from ones he’s just been talking about, who haven’t believed Him. To those, Jesus had said, they would not find Him where He was going, that they’d die in their sin. When He said that, they’d wondered if He was going to kill Himself—if that’s what He meant that He was going somewhere (demonstrates how little they were understanding Him).

But, if on some level they were getting His message, that they were not right with God like they thought they were, it sure must have been news to them. People like us aren’t on the outs with God, don’t go to hell, they would have been inclined to think to themselves. And by people like us, they would have meant offspring of Abraham (like even the believing ones say in our text). Along with that, they would have meant people who more or less live according to the laws of Abraham’s people. So, Abraham’s offspring, law-abiding—“good”—people.

At issue in our text, then: What does it mean to be a good person? What does it mean to be the kind of person who’ll be accepted in the Day of Judgment, and not cast aside out of the kingdom?

St. Paul’s words in our epistle lesson are of interest in this discussion. He distinguishes between the covenants of the letter and of the Spirit.

God had made a covenant with His Old Testament people, at Mt. Sinai. He’d said He would be their God if they’d keep His Commandments. Simple enough. But in the end—people being people—, it really just demonstrated the fact that sinners can’t keep covenants—at least not that kind (but that doesn’t keep them from thinking they can). People have a nature that hears what God says, and then gets busy trying to find a way around it.

Having demonstrated peoples’ inability to keep a law-based covenant (a covenant of the letter, that spells out what’s required), God had presented a new one, based on something else. This new covenant didn’t depend on sinful man’s ability to do anything; it only depended on what God would do for him.

That’s why St. Paul says this covenant of the Spirit gives life. This one isn’t saying, Keep the Commandments and you’ll have eternal life; it’s saying, knowing you can’t, God has provided another way for you to have it.

In Jesus’ answer to the people in our text He’s really just kind of explaining the futility of the covenant of the letter. He says, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. And He makes the further point: slaves don’t inherit anything; sons do. So, every sinner needs to have an answer to the question, What happens about my sin? If I’m a sinner, and if sinners are slaves who don’t inherit, then how am I to have what everyone wants, which is to inherit eternal life? Being Abraham’s descendants doesn’t have anything to do with it; having an answer to sin, does.

It isn’t only those to whom Jesus is speaking in our text who need an answer to this question; it’s you, too, and me. We can’t inherit God’s kingdom through the covenant of the letter, through being good enough in ourselves to earn it (to even think that for a second is to commit one of the sins that disqualifies us from it).

And it’s a tempting thought. It’s the way our nature thinks. We look at other people, and we compare ourselves to them. We think to ourselves: I’m one of God’s people. I’m going to look pretty good standing in front of Him, compared to a lot of other people. Again, your natural way of thinking. But, Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin, Jesus says in our text. And, just like in this world slaves don’t inherit anything, so also, slaves to sin (who are remaining in that status) don’t inherit God’s kingdom, don’t inherit eternal life. Something has to happen to change your status. Something has to happen about your sins, that remove as the barrier, that frees you from their bondage.

That’s why Jesus is saying what He’s saying to the people in our text: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The Word Jesus is talking about is really the covenant of the Spirit. It’s the alternative that God has offered because sinners can’t keep the other covenant, can’t keep the covenant of the letter. The truth that, in its knowing sets a person free, is the nature of this alternative covenant, this new covenant, this covenant of the Spirit—what it is. It’s Christ.

Paul calls it the covenant of the Spirit because the Spirit is the one who makes known to you the good news in it.

He made it known to you in Baptism—making a believer out of an unbeliever (if that part was still necessary). Furthermore, He marked you as His own dear child, connecting you in a special way to Christ, your Savior. If the Spirit had already made you a believer through hearing the Word (like many who came to John for Baptism), then the second part of it is still true. In either case, the Spirit has worked powerfully by God’s grace, to free the slave, to make an heir of eternal life out of one who formerly didn’t stand to inherit. And it didn’t have anything to do with your ancestry in this world, or with some sort of meritorious accomplishment on your part. It didn’t depend on sinful man’s ability to do anything; it only depended on what God has done for him.

So, we had that question this morning: What does it mean to be a good person, the kind that’ll be accepted in the Day of Judgment?

Having some earthly ancestral connection (a’la those who said they were descendants of Abraham) isn’t the answer, because that doesn’t address what happens about a person’s sin.

And, by the way, it isn’t as far-fetched as you might think, that that would be an issue, also, among us—thinking that some connection like that makes a difference at the gate of heaven. Hasn’t it been tempting to think that your own strong faith could sort of be extended to family member, or a friend—the one having faith translating into the other having it, having what’s necessary to be with God in His kingdom. That that isn’t the case is demonstrated in this text, too, because, again, the issue is how each person’s sin is taken care of, how it’s solved that a sinner (therefore a slave to sin) doesn’t inherit God’s kingdom. So, being acceptable there, isn’t based on ancestral connections or any other connections like that.

Rather, Christ’s Words in our text: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” With those words Jesus is emphasizing the new covenant that God has made with sinners because the other kind could never possibly work. He’s emphasizing the covenant of the Spirit—the faith that the Spirit brings to a person through the Word and Sacraments.

That faith is what truly makes you Jesus’ disciple. It’s what addresses your problem of sin. You don’t have to wonder if you’re a good enough person for God’s kingdom.

Your being considered a good person has entirely to do with your connection to Christ—the only truly good person, the only one never guilty of anything, the only one able to stand before God on His own merits. Connected to Him, you’re forgiven of sins.

You’re truly His disciple through faith, abiding in His Word. You know the truth; through faith you are a son—an heir, you’re free. Thanks be to God. Amen.